Who Is 'The Bachelorette's Brendan Morais, the Actor-Model Frontrunner?

Spoilers for this season of The Bachelorette. Okay, this one might actually be the most dramatic Bachelorette season ever. After Clare Crawley sensationally quit the show to be with contestant Dale Moss, Tayshia Adams stepped in to take the reins and finish out Crawley's season with a smaller group of men (Adams' full cast of 20 men is here). We already know a few things about her season—for example, a contestant who quickly becomes important is Brendan Morais, who was originally cast for Crawley but ended up forging a real connection with Adams. Morais, 30, is from Milford, MA, and he's an actor and artist who has an interesting background. So what do we know about him, and why is he so important this season?

Who is Brendan Morais?

Per his ABC bio, Morais lost his dad at a young age, and he really wants to be a father. He lived in L.A. for a bit but moved back home to Massachusetts to be with family and work for the family roofing business. His passion is coaching his high school basketball team, and he apparently loves hanging out with his nieces and nephews, some of whom have a cute little presence on his Instagram:

He's apparently super into turtlenecks, per his bio, and was verified on Insta even before the show:

Like Adams, he was married and ended up getting divorced, which is something they bond over (and becomes important later—spoilers in the last subsection).

Oh, and his nickname is BMoney.

What does Morais do for a living?

An actor and model, Morais is represented by NEMG and Maggie Agency. He's has modeled for New Balance and Life is Good as well as TV ads (see below). His Instagram is mostly pictures of his work:

Oh, and here's him in an ad as a groom:

Before he took his Instagram public after completing Bachelorette filming, Morais listed himself as "artist" in his bio. According to IMDb, he has three on-screen credits: two shorts (Chances and Ace of Spades) as well as adventure-comedy film Get Rich Free, all dating from 2017. Here's the trailer:

According to that film's Facebook page, Morais played a Russian thug in The Equalizer in his first role. He's also apparently done commercials for (among others) Jeep, FAGE Greek yogurt, Joseph A. Bank, and Truly Hard Seltzer, some of which you can see on his Maggie Agency page. Here is his acting reel, which you should absolutely watch immediately.

What happens between Brendan and Tayshia?

Adams has alluded to Morais being a major part of her season, saying on Becca Kufrin and Rachel Lindsay's Bachelor Happy Hour podcast of their first date: "I feel like that was definitely the turning point. Like, yeah, sure being The Bachelorette, it’s fun. Like, all these guys are here. But having the initial connection and being like, ‘Hold on a second. I’m feeling some type of way. This could possibly be something. I’m just gonna start leaning into it.'"

Do Tayshia and Brendan get engaged?

Okay, big spoilers coming up, so click out of this article now if you don't want to find out how this season ends. Ready?

Morais, according to Reality Steve, does a one-eighty after hometowns. Adams does fall for him—she's confirmed in post-show interviews that she fell in love with more than one person—but there's a catch: Morais isn't ready to get engaged, something he realizes while he's picking out rings with Neil Lane. (Oof.)

Morais' relatively recent divorce is something he and Adams have bonded over, but it may also be why he isn't ready for things to get super serious. Remember, too, that because Adams was a late addition to the season, she and Morais have had less time together than even previous contestants and leads do (which isn't much time to start with!).

Reality Steve reports that Morais leaves of his own accord after he makes it to the final three, and that Adams is devastated. "By all accounts, Brendan is who Tayshia wanted. And when he left, she was pretty distraught but still ended up picking somebody," he wrote. We also see in a promo that Adams' dad warns her that she might be making the biggest mistake of her life, so clearly things get pretty intense.

Adams does end up with another contestant, Zac Clark, but they don't get engaged—it's not even clear that they're still together. In other words, it's possible that the finale will suggest either that Adams is still holding out for Morais, or that she's following his lead by agreeing it's too soon to get engaged. But there isn't an After The Final Rose because of quarantine restrictions, so I guess we're going to have to learn about what's gone down post-filming on...a Zoom call?